We're coming through London on our way home for one night (we have more time in London on the front end of the trip).
We need to be at Heathrow at 7:30am (arrival at airport, not our flight time). Even though it's a Sunday, the Tube has many trains to get us there in time.
Question: do you recommend staying close to the airport, or can we stay in the city so we can enjoy a little more of what we love in London? If you think we need to stay at the airport, can you offer a hotel recommendation (Terminal 2)?
Thanks for your thoughts!
Eric
Posted by
Colorado Mountains, USA
8130 posts
Stay in the city, so you can, as you said, “enjoy a little more of what we love in London.” If you have enough options to get yourselves to Terminal 2 by 7:30 A.M., there’s no need to spend your last night at an airport hotel. Have a great trip, and good flight home.
Posted by
Freedonia
16877 posts
It's really up to you. But keep an eye out for any disruption of service. Weekends are when maintenance is done.
If you prefer to stay at the airport, there is a Hilton Garden Inn connected to Terminal 2. I've stayed there many times. I'll be back in three weeks.
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
9117 posts
My vote is airport hotel. You can stay in the city until late afternoon or even evening, but you don't want to be making that commute out when there is a possibility of unexpected disruptions and run out of time.
Posted by
Virginia, USA
5950 posts
That is what I would do as I enjoy spending my last evening in the city. You can check for planned maintenance on the Transport for London site. Scroll down to ”planned track closures 6-month look ahead”
https://tfl.gov.uk/status-updates/planned-track-closures
Check again closer to your date of travel.
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
5974 posts
Eric, our departure out of LHR was a little earlier, but we really wanted that last full day and evening in the city. So we did both, and took a late evening Tube to the airport, staying at the Hilton Garden Inn. That way we got to sleep just a bit longer, since it was just a short walk to the check in area in the morning.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thank you so much, everyone! Very helpful. We hadn't considered possible maintenance issues.
Appreciate both the input and the recommendations for the hotel at Heathrow!
Posted by
3 posts
I would also choose airport hotel if given the choice. Though the Central London hotels are undoubtedly convenient for sightseeing, you can't ever be sure about public transport (delays at best, or cancellations at worst).
As for hotel recommendations, it's not exactly at T2, but I usually frequent Premier Inn at Heathrow Terminal 4 for my travels out of LHR. It's super convenient to get between T2 and the hotel, due to being in the free travel zone for trains, and there being a direct elevated tunnel from the T4 departures and the T4 hotels. I myself stayed there last year and had to get an 8:20 AM flight with United to Chicago that was leaving from T2. I've always had a good experience with Premier Inn T4, and if you like plane spotting, there are some rooms that have windows facing the runway.
Have a wonderful time in London!